ABSTRACT
The purpose of the lettered Rules was to supplement the particular provisions of the numbered Rules and to furnish a general framework acceptable to the international maritime community. In the Fifth Circuit in The Orient Transporter, the Court of Appeals appeared to ignore the Rule of Interpretation and held that in the absence of a situation of peril, Rules X and XI providing for the admission of expenses at a port of refuge were not applicable. After referring to The Star of Hope and Hobson v. Lord – cases which demonstrated the recognition by US courts of general average arising out of extraordinary expenses incurred for the joint benefit of ship and cargo. C. J. Feinberg reviewed the history of the York-Antwerp Rules and the way in which the Rule of Interpretation formalised the effect of the Makis agreement.
